BREAKING: FG Begins Payment Of New ₦77,000 NYSC Allowance

The Nigerian government has finally begun the disbursement of the newly approved ₦77,000 monthly allowance for National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members, ending months of uncertainty and frustration.

According to SaharaReporters, several corps members received credit alerts reflecting the increased stipend, marking the resolution of the long-standing delay.

Naija News understands that this decision comes just days after the Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, assured Nigerians in an interview on Channels TV that the backlog of payments would be cleared by the end of March.

For months, the disbursement of the new allowance had been stalled, with the government citing budgetary constraints and bureaucratic delays.

In his Monday interview, Olawande attempted to clarify the reasons behind the delay, stating, “I have explained this several times. Some people say I always mention it’s a process, and it is seriously a process. It was not in the budget when the president announced it. Some agencies and parastatals need to have their salaries included in the budget before anything can be done or paid out.”

The Minister emphasized that while President Bola Tinubu had approved the allowance months ago, the disbursement was contingent on the inclusion of budgetary allocations, which had not been in place at the time of the announcement.

“Anybody can approve anything, but you must have a budgetary allocation for it. Now, they are done with the process. It has been approved and signed. Now, they can start taking it,” Olawande added.

His comments triggered skepticism among corps members, many of whom had faced months of broken promises from the government.

One of the key concerns was the fate of outgoing corps members, who had served under the previous stipend but were expected to receive the new allowance.

Addressing the concerns, Olawande reassured corps members that the backlog would be paid. “You saw the new DG when they asked him, what about those who are going out now? Are they going to receive their backlogs? He said

“We have your account details; we will put it (the allowance) through.’ You may not like to hear this, but I can tell you the payment will happen at the end of this month,” the minister confirmed.